Apollo 9

Launched: March 3, 1969
Splashed Down: March 13, 1969

Crew:

James A. McDivitt

David R. Scott

Russell L. Schweickart

This mission was the first flight test of the Lunar Module, the third critical
piece of Apollo hardware. During ten days in earth orbit, the crew undocked, maneuvered
and docked the LM and the Command Modules, simulating as closely as possible the
conditions that would be encountered when men finally would land on the moon itself.

This mission also tested the Apollo spacesuit, the first to carry self-contained
life support rather than being dependent on an umbilical connection.

This was the first Apollo mission where the astronauts were granted the honor, often
exercised rather whimsically, of naming their spacecraft. The Apollo 9 astronauts named
the Command Module "Gumdrop" and the Lunar Module "Spider."

After Apollo 8, Apollo 9 was a bit of an
anticlimax, but it was another absolutely necessary step that we needed to take if
we were going to place a man onto the moon.